Commercial-grade electrical service is provided to facilities via heavy-duty, large gauge aluminum cable. Large transformers distribute the main power supplied by the power lines through an underground conduit that houses the electrical cables. Often, the cables are bundled into groups of four called a quadriplex. The quadriplex exits the conduit and enters the main electrical service cabinet for the facility where it can be connected to the main bus bar to provide electrical power to a desired location. Before the quadriplex can be terminated into the main bus bar, each cable of the quadriplex should be cut to an appropriate length and have the insulation covering each cable stripped from the end of the cables. Then the cable can be manipulated under and into the main bus bar, which involves maneuvering the cable such that an end of the cable can be retracted to be inserted into the receptacle, but also be extended to be properly aligned to allow for complete insertion into the main bus bar. Typically, the manipulation of the quadriplex occurs in a confined space of the service cabinet and may involve the manipulation of multiple quadriplexes. Due to the thickness and rigidity of the cables, a large amount of torque is often necessary to manipulate the quadriplex into the proper position and alignment for insertion into the main bus bar.
Currently, the commercial-grade electrical power cables are manipulated manually by utility company linemen. However, the confined space in which the manipulation occurs combined with the extreme stiffness of the electrical cable requires high magnitude forces that may result in soft-tissue repetitive motion injuries to the linemen, thereby creating a hazardous work environment for the linemen. Additionally, due to the confined space available for cable manipulation, manually maintaining the cable in the proper plane for alignment with the main bus bar is difficult.